Ramchal's Spiritual Gems

Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1, Ch 5

2010-01-31T01:14:00.000-05:00

Section 1, Chapter 5

1. There are five theologically-calamitous mistakes we make that prevent us from accepting just how unmitigated and absolute G-d’s sovereignty is [1]. The first of them (which seems rather laudatory and respectful at that, at first blush) is to think that G-d is “far too exalted”, much too “removed from the world to concern Himself with it” in Ramchal’s words.

After all, those who think this way reason, He’s G-d! Why should He care about petty and ultimately inconsequential things like this world and us? In Ramchal’s worlds, they think that He has left us under the control of “the stars, constellations, and their celestial counterparts, which then oversee the (workings of the) world”. That in fact was the viewpoint of the earliest idolaters, who then worshipped the stars and constellations, which they considered G-d’s lofty agents on earth [2]. But that’s fallacious because G-d is utterly unaffected by distance, either of rank or of space; G-d’s reach transcends all that. For what he said of His Torah is certainly true of Himself. As He put it, “It is not up in heaven … nor is it beyond the sea … No, the matter is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

Mistaken as they were, those who were of that opinion did nonetheless acknowledge G-d’s Being and even worshipped Him -- albeit in a backhanded sort of way [3].

2. The second mistake some make is to reason that since, as we’re taught, G-d is perfect, whole, and utterly benevolent, and yet there’s evil and wrongdoing in this world -- then there had to have been two deities: one for the good and another for the bad [4].

The truth be known, that error is either based on our inability to fathom how a good G-d could allow for evil to manifest itself so often, or at all; or on our failure to appreciate when an instance of bad might actually prove to be good. The seeming contradiction and confusion in all that is so alien to some poor souls that they lapse into heresy or spiritual mayhem in the face of it, G-d forbid.

But there are a couple of points to make about that at this juncture (while a lot more will be said later on). First, that evil serves a purpose in this world -- and a rather high, telling, and central one at that, ironically (as we’ll discover). And second, that while the incongruity of a single source for both good and evil can’t be denied, nonetheless a person of faith understands that the One G-d is indeed the source of everything; and that His single Will manifests itself in many different ways, much the way a single ray of sunlight can express itself as many different hues as=2 0it passes through a prism [5].

3. The third mistake people have made -- and continue to make to this day, perhaps even more so than in the past -- is to assume that the “laws of nature” (as well as the constraints of “destiny” and of “happenstance”) are indefatigable facts of life not to be denied, and that even G-d is beholden to them. And they also believe that the sooner a person acknowledges those “rules” and starts to play by them, the better off he is and the longer he denies them the more likely he is to fail.

But that would suggest that these “laws” existed before G-d Himself did, since they rather than He would be the very underpinnings of everything in the world. Yet that’s absurd, for by definition G-d never didn’t exist, so nothing could ever have preceded Him; and since He’s the Creator, He created those forces, too, and is thus beyond and above them.

It also follows, then, that since He is in fact beyond and above them (and everything else, as well), th at these rules aren’t immutable. And rather than being “laws” of nature and facts of life, they’re actually only some of the multifarious, mutable means G-d uses to govern this world; that is, that like everything else, they too are beholden to Him, the Absolute Sovereign [6].

4. The fourth fundamental mistake some make about G-d is to believe that His deeds are sometimes subordinate to man’s actions. They assert as an example the notion that while G-d had once chosen the Jewish Nation in fact to carry out His mission in this world, He no longer favors us since we continue to sin and stray, and that He was thus “forced” to abandon us, G-d forbid, as a consequence of those actions.

First off, let’s quote G-d’s own words about the fixed and abiding nature of our people’s relationship to Him. “I will never give My glory to another (nation) “(Isaiah 48:11), since He has established a covenant between Himself and us that’s to last forever [7]. And that as a consequence of that covenant He9 9ll expunge many of the things we do against Him, we’re assured.

“I, I myself, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins“ (Isaiah 43:25), G-d said at one point; “I will remove the iniquity of that country (Israel) in one day“ (Zechariah 3:9), He said at another; and He once assured us that “In those days and in that time... the iniquity of Israel will be searched out, and there will (be found to) be none; and the sins of Judah (will be searched out, too) and not be found. For, I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant“(Jeremiah 50:20).

That’s to say that His covenant with us is eternal and beyond others’ expectations [8]. And that G-d is unaffected by and above our or anyone else’s deeds, as well as any system He Himself set up to determine worth and merit. For as He put it, “I will be gracious to whomever I will be gracious -- even though he may not be worthy of it”. And “I will show mercy upon whomever I will show mercy, even though he may not deserve it“(Berachot 7A).

5. And the fifth mistake made is to assume that though He is the Creator of each and every thing, we can still-and-all do things to get around His wishes or affect His deeds. Mistakenly believing that G-d must be vulnerable in some realm or another, and that they could subject Him to their manipulation and cunning, they would for example try to manipulate the sort of supernatural forces that G-d is thought to acquiesce to.

But they too are wrong. For G-d alone is G-d, and the Absolute Sovereign. Nothing can thwart Him. He alone reigns supreme; nothing exists save for the fact that He wills it to; and He oversees everything. He Himself enacted all laws and ordinances, and they’re thus beholden to Him, rather than He to them.

There will indeed be times when G-d chooses to accede to manE2s deeds, but He needn’t do that if He chooses not to. And He’s likewise above even supernatural laws. After all, He Himself set it all in place and granted it its capabilities. He instituted everything and can correspondingly change and undo anything. For He alone is all-powerful [9].

Notes:

[1] Doubtlessly meaning to underscore the importance of the idea -- which he says in the text is the cardinal and over-arching truism of the Jewish Faith-- Ramchal elaborates here on verses that depict G-d’s sovereignty. We didn’t cite them above because they seem redundant in this sort of a treatment, but we’ll quote them here. We’re thus told that “G-d is the L-rd...” which is to say, the Absolute Sovereign, “... in Heaven above and on the earth below”, i.e., in orbits we experience and in orbits we cannot; “... there is no other”, i.e., that’s true of Him, and Him alone (Deuteronomy 4:39). “Behold, I am He...” the Torah quotes G-d as declaring, meaning to say that G-d alone is the Absolute Sovereign, “there is no god with Me...” i.e., He shares sovereignty with nothing and no one else. And the Torah underscores the point with the Divine affirmation that, “I (alone) bring on death and I bring to life; I wound and=2 0I heal” (Deuteronomy 32:39), thus asserting the profundity and finality of G- d’s determinations (which was already cited in 1:4:2). We’re taught that G- d is “unchangeable; (so) who could turn Him around?”, which is to say that He cannot be dissuaded from doing anything He’s determined to do. And it’s said that “He does what He wants“ (Job 23:13), for after all, “Who'd (dare) say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’“ (Job 9:12). In short we’re to understand that G-d’s rule is absolute and supreme. Nothing and no one could ever thwart Him.

See Ramchal’s statement elsewhere that everything we do should somehow disclose G-d’s Sovereignty, and that the eventual full and outright disclosure of it will only come about when we believe in it wholeheartedly (Klach Pitchei Chochma 49).

[2] See Rambam’s Hilchot Avodah Zarah 1:1-2, which depicts the downward spin from the recognition of G-d’s exalted place in the universe to out- and-out idolatry.

[3] Some20today start off with something of the same premise but go elsewhere with it. “Since G-d is so lofty and transcendent” they contend, “He apparently left us to our own devices”. What they mean to suggest is either that we’re now on our own in the universe, masters of our own fate, and accountable to no one; or worse yet, that G-d is an aloof Master of the Universe who wouldn’t deign to concern Himself with this world. But both approaches are wrong. The first because it limits G- d’s reach and doesn’t factor in His ability (and wish) to interface with this world and ourselves in an imminent, near-at-hand sort of way. And the second is wrong because it limits His concerns for and faith in us, whom He created to fulfill His ultimate purpose (see 1:1:2 above).

[4] Ramchal is referring to Zoroastrianism which thrived in Talmudic times and threatened Jewish beliefs, since it maintained that a pair of co-equal spirits called Ahura Mazda (the beneficent “Wise Lord”) and Angra Mainyu (the malevolent “Evil Spirit”) competed with each other for control of the universe (see Sanhedrin 39A).

[5] See Rambam’s illustration of how one thing can do and produce a number of different, even conflicting things. He points out that fire c an melt some things, solidify others, as well as cook, burn, whiten, and blacken yet others. Someone not knowing the nature of fire would think that six different things were at work: one that melts, another that solidifies, etc., but of course that’s not so; for fire alone is the instigator of all those effects (Moreh Nevuchim 1:53).

[6] R’ Shriki cites others of Ramchal’s works (in his note 15) to explain natural phenomena and the laws of nature from a Kabbalistic perspective. Ramchal speaks of the short-sightedness we suffer from being material beings, in that we’re not aware that things are not as they appear to be -- even to the most advanced tools, even when accessed by the best minds. For we’re taught that G-d wanted to keep certain things from mankind, so he gave us our five senses (as well as all the modern instruments that merely extend upon these senses, albeit to astounding qualitative and quantitative degrees) with which to experience the world. For our souls themselves experience things on a very different level and aren’t beholden to those senses; they “see things for what they are, not for what they’re presented as being by our senses” (Adir Bamarom, p. 458).

Elsewhere Ramchal likens nature to multi-hued panels placed over a window that allow the pure and otherwise unadulterated sunlight to pass through them only after having been “colored ” by them (Adir Bamarom, vol. 2, Ma’amar Yichud HaYirah p. 150); or to material embodiments of spiritual principles which we respond to more than we do the spiritual originals (ibid., p. 158).

[7] Also see Genesis 17:1-2, 7; Isaiah 54:10 and 59:21; 1 Chronicles 16:15- 17; and elsewhere.

It’s important to point out, though, that that’s not to deny the consequences that any single one of us would have to suffer for our having broken our end of the bargain and sinning. For, despite the covenant between G-d Almighty and our people, the truth of the matter is that transactions are transactions indeed every bit as much as merits are merits; everyone must answer for his or her own deeds.

[8] Ramchal is addressing the fact that the early Church Fathers contended that while G-d had indeed once chosen the Jewish Nation, He’d subsequently abandoned us, G-d forbid. Ramchal’s point is that their supposition is that G-d’s decisions can be swayed by man’s actions, but that’s absurd, since not only has G-d made an eternal pact with our people, but He also can’t be moved to “c hange His mind” one way or the other since He is the Supreme Sovereign who is answerable to no one (see R’ Friedlander’s note 23).

[9] See Derech Hashem 3:2 where Ramchal discusses Theurgy (the performance of miracles with supernatural assistance).

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 6

2010-01-31T01:10:00.001-05:00

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 6

We end our foray into the nature and make-up of G-d, if you will, this week. And we venture into less utterly transcendent though exciting spiritual realms, including the nature of our *own* beings, the meaning of our lives, what G-d expects of us, how our righteousness affects us personally and the entire world, the Jewish year, the Jewish day, and so much more.

Ramchal offers one last insight into G-d's being now, then he sums up the entire chapter by encapsulating the six facts about G-d we'd do well to dwell upon and take to heart if we're ever going to understand the world.

That last point is that it's clear that there is only *one* G-d.

After all, as the argument goes, if there were more than one G-d, then there would have to have been one "Over-G-d", so to speak, from whom they would have all come. Since all multiples (many gods, in this case) necessarily come from a singular (the one "Over-G-d", or G-d Himself, in this case). Much the way individual state constitutions for example all derive from the Constitution of the United States, which gives them their authority and validates their existence.

If the various gods did indeed come from Him, then they obviously depend on Him and they're thus not utterly self-sufficient (as G-d Himself is) and they wouldn't be gods, by defintion. It therefore follows that there is only *one* G-d.

The six aforementioned facts about G-d we'd need to recall and ruminate upon as much and as often as it takes to "get it" are the facts that G-d *exists*, He's *perfect*, His existence is *imperative*, He's utterly *self-sufficient*, He's *simple*, and there's only *one* of Him.

Since we're about to enter the human realm as we indicated, it would serve us well to contrast G-d's being with our own.

The truth be known, though, we're not about to jump into humanity per se, so much as ease into it. Because as we'll see for ourselves Ramchal will start discussing G-d's *intentions* for us before he explains us ourselves. As such, we go from G-d, to G-d's idea of and plans for us "in theory", then to the reality of our beings-- both in potential and as is (for better or for worse). But let's do now what we set out to do, and contrast our beings with G-d's, despite those other intermittent ideas.

The first things that sets us apart from G-d is the fact that no one doubts that we exist. G-d certainly doesn't doubt it, and we don't either. G-d knows we exist because He's intrinsically tied to us as our Creator. And we know we exist for a few reasons: because we're intrinsically tied to ourselves, because we sense our own existence, and also *because we see ourselves*.

And though it's self-evident, we'll say it anyway-- while G-d is invisible, we're not. And it's G-d's invisibility that captures our imagination so and challenges our belief, since we only trust deeply what we can see and otherwise experience tangibly. In fact, one could say that it's our visibility and G-d's invisibility which is the "necessity" that has served as "the mother" of the "invention" of science and inquiry.

The second way we and He differ-- and this is a revelation to many, and a life-lesson some of us have to learn again and again--- lies in the fact that we're simply not perfect. We're flawed, no matter how wonderful, no matter how otherwise stunning. Yet there *is* implanted within us the dream of perfection and the uncanny urge to achieve it, which is undoubtedly rooted in our aforementioned intrinsic ties to G-d.

Third, unlike G-d, none of us is indispensable (i.e., "imperative")-- *none of us*. The world will carry on very well without us, and we'll quickly be replaced in the scheme of things.

Fourth, none of us is utterly self-sufficient-- only apparently, delusionarily so. If nothing else, we clearly need sunlight, food, drink, etc. But G-d needs nothing.

Fifth, while G-d is pure and simple, we're multifarious and complex. While some thinkers simply love human complexity, most of us yearn for simplicity, also likely because of our aforementioned ties to G-d.

And sixth-- obviously-- while there's only one G-d, there are many, many of us. But since, as we said above, all multiples necessarily come from a singular, then like state constitutions, we're all "derived" from G-d who "gives us our authority" and "validates" us. And we all hold sway over our own domain. (We'd all do well to reflect on the analogy!)

A final point. "The Way of G-d" is set out like a tree. It starts with a seed, sets out roots, and extends upward and outward. The "seed" has been this chapter, which discusses G-d's make-up. All that follows is an offshoot of it. So, always keep this chapter in mind and dwell on it often.

For without it-- without G-d, and what we know of Him-- nothing else makes sense.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1, Ch 4

2010-01-24T14:01:00.000-05:00

Section 1, Chapter 4

As we’d indicated, the single thread that runs through the long course of history from beginning to end is the fact that G-d reigns over absolutely everything.

In point of fact, G-d’s sovereignty, know as His Yichud, is the only trait of His that we humans can grasp. For, while He is accessible to heart and soul, G-d is utterly inaccessible to the mind; as the heart and soul can sense His active presence in the world, but the mind must rely on abstract conjecture about His makeup.

And so while we might understand for example that G-d is wise, we nonetheless can’t fathom the makeup of His wisdom with our minds; and though we can certainly follow that He understands, we ourselves nonetheless can’t grasp G-d’s level of understanding; and the like. And that’s because those and other such Divine traits are rooted in abstract notions, while G-d’s sovereignty -- His overarching command of everything in the universe -- will be evident in the end.

As our sages put it, “You (G-d) are wise, but not with a discernable kind of wisdom. You understand, but not with a discernable kind of understanding” (Tikkunei Zohar, 2nd Introduction). And besides, we’ve been warned, “Do not search out what is too wondrous for you, and do not delve into what is hidden from you” (Chagigah 13a), and “if your heart flees there …” i.e., to an idea that’s utterly beyond your mortal mind, then ”return to your place” instead (Sefer Yetzirah 1:8) [1]. But while that’s true of abstract ideas about Him, nevertheless as the psalmist put it so effulgently, when one catches sight of G-d’s presence in the world he can “taste and see20that G-d is good” (Psalm 34:8) -- that He’s here in our world and holds sway over all of it.

But Ramchal’s point is that not only can we discern G-d’s utter sovereignty now to a degree, it will become perfectly clear to us in fact in the end.

As such we’re charged by the Torah to detect it and to internalize its veracity again and again, to the point where it’s unquestionable [2]. As it’s written, “Know this day and reflect upon it in your heart” again and again “that the L-rd He is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth below”, i.e., that He reigns supreme, and that “there is none else” who reigns (Deuteronomy 4:39). In point of fact, all of our people’s hopes and dreams as well as all the promises made to us about our ultimate redemption hinge on G-d displaying His utter sovereignty -- His Yichud -- in the eventual future.

We’ll discuss this all in more detail in the next few chapters; at this point, though, let’s just present the various verses that allude to this phenomenon. < o:p>

G-d Himself expressed it in these terms: “I am He! There is no G-d with me! I alone bring on death and bring on life; I alone wound and heal“(Deuteronomy 32:39) [3]; “I am He; before Me no god was formed and after Me none shall be. I (alone) I am the L-rd, and aside from Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:10-11); “I am the first and I am the last; there is no G-d beside Me“(Isaiah 44:6); and “Know … that there is none beside Me. I am G-d, no one else. I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I G-d do all these things“(Isaiah 45:6-7).

As the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah depicted it, “G-d alone will be exalted on that day“(Isaiah 2:11) -- the day He reveals His Yichud -- when, “G-d will (prove to) be king over all the earth. And ... G-d and His name will be one and the same“(Zechariah 14:9) [4]. And as it’s said “Hear O Israel! G-d our L-rd is the L-rd (i.e., His reign is sovereign) (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The point of the matter is that G-d alone reigns supreme -- and that while there are undoubtedly other entities with wills of their own, ourselves included, in fact G-d alone will have “the last word” so to speak; His Will will prove to reign supreme [5].

In the end we’ll find that the slow, boundless, panoramic consideration of past, present and the promised future which we’ll be offered in this work will ultimately have us realize the fact of G-d’s Yichud.

And once we know that, we’ll be able to not only “know therefore this day” the truth of G-d’s absolute sovereignty in theory -- we will have “reflect (ed) upon it in (our) heart” and we’ll be able to realize on our own that “G-d alone is L-rd of Heaven above and of earth below -- none other” (see Deuteronomy 4:39), despite the whirligig of earthly circumstances that seem to refute that [6].

Notes:

[1] See R’ Friedlander’s remarks in note 14 of his commentary for another explanation of how we could understand G-d’s Yichud yet not understand His other traits based on the notion of “positive” versus “negative” Divine attributes (for which see Rambam’s comments in Moreh Nevuchim 1:56–60). Our position is that G-d’s Yichud can be defined because it touches upon Him as He interfaces with the cosmos.

[2] Understand that most of us simply don’t sense G-d’s utter sovereignty. Even people of faith who assume that G-d certainly reigns in this world don’t actually assume He reigns supreme. And that’s because they presume that He Himself is subject and subservient to a number of cosmic laws and limitations (which Ramchal will discuss later on).

[3] Ramchal calls our attention to the context in which this statement is made, the great song-poem known as Shirat Ha’azinu, which he says “incorporates every happenstance and phenomenon ever to occur in the world” which even “the plain meaning of the text makes clear”.

[4] This verse would seem to explain why we use the term “Yichud” of all possible others for His Absolute Sovereignty. For the term implies oneness (echad); and oneness is characterized in this verse as the unification (Yichud, quite literally) of G-d’s Essence and His name, i.e., and His reputation or “public facade” as we worded it in note 3 to 1:3. (Also see R’ Shalom Ulman’s opening comments to his edition of Klallot Ha’ilan)

The term Yichud also refers to the unification of G-d’s near-highest reach with His lowest one, as in the common Kabbalistic formula of “unifying the Holy One and His Shechina”. See R’ Shriki’s essay entitled “HaYichud” of his edition of Da’at Tevunot for a discussion of this.

[5] See ¶’s 38 and 40 below as well as Klach Pitchei Chochma 1 (in Peirush).

[6] For the Kabbalistic themes tied in with this chapter see Klallim Rishonim 3 (which=2 0corresponds to ¶’s 36 and 40 ); Klach Pitchei Chochma 2, 4; and Klallot Ha’ilan 1. Also see the aforementioned “HaYichud” on pp. 61-66 of Shriki’s edition for a breakdown of how the concept of G-d’s Yichud had been understood before Ramchal and of its various implications; also see his Rechev Yisroel pp. 167-228 for a full treatment of the concept of Yichud.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 5

2010-01-24T13:57:00.000-05:00

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 5

Ramchal says something in the middle of this paragraph that would serve us best here, at the beginning. It's that the statements about G-d he's about to present to us are far beyond our grasp, and that we barely have the vocabulary for it.

Let's examine that. In the past, mankind had too often been struck by its own perceived ability to grasp things, and to be able to enunciate what it grasped. And it believed that what couldn't be enunciated just didn't exist.

So science did its best to plot and graph everything exactingly, literature strove to say things "just so", art and music tried to "capture the moment" perfectly, etc.

At a certain point in modernity though it became clear that things weren't what we perceived them to be. So science addressed issues like chaos (for example), literature turned to evoking hazy senses of things, art and music allowed for the abstract and discordant.

By this point we've apparently given up on the struggle altogether, and settled for "virtual reality".

Now, the Kabbalists always knew that virtual reality is all one could ever hope to understand in this world. For our senses only experience things that deeply, and no further. We simply don't have the capacity to dig deeper to "actual" reality. Much like our ancestors didn't have the capacity to grasp the truer picture that the microscope allowed then to have before it was invented.

As such we'd offer that there are essentially four levels of reality-- surface reality, microscopic (and submicroscopic) reality, virtual reality, and the actual reality. Mankind settled far too long for a surface view of things, we were then thrilled with a microscopic view, and have only now come upon virtual reality in the face of the actual level of reality which we now know is beyond us.

Though not often spoken of, this acquiescence to virtue reality is an exciting and profound admission of human limitations. (The truth of the matter is though that it's a mixed blessing, since many have already begun to accept virtual reality as actual reality, but that's beyond our scope here).

Ramchal's point is that when it comes to spirituality, the best we could ever hope for are virtual depictions. For the life of the spirit is far beyond our grasp. And consequently G-dliness (which can only be described as "meta-spirituality”) is hopelessly further yet beyond us.

Rambam (Maimonides) evoked a remarkable image relevant to our point. He declared (in Perek Chellek) that we haven't any more capacity to fully grasp the spiritual than fish have the ability to grasp the notion of fire! Drawing upon that we'd venture to say that we haven't any more capacity to fully grasp G-dliness than fish have the ability to grasp the notion of notions!

Ramchal goes on to say that the above is true because we can only imagine and fathom things that fit within the confines of G-d's created world which we can sense or imagine. That we really can't draw a parallel between what happens in our experience and G-d's own reality. For the two are utterly, utterly unalike.

That having been said, Ramchal offers that one of the few things that we *can* say about G-d is that He’s absolutely “simple” ( i.e., pure and straightforward). That's to say that while we and everything else around us is a melange of many distinct and dependent capacities, G-d isn't. He's one and whole, "pure and simple".

And while our various capacities often blend (we can, for example, evoke a memory of aromas and thus combine the tactile with the cerebral) we nonetheless force the two to combine artificially and ephemerally. While everything about Him is simply *there* in G-d, and wholly so.

Ramchal’s final point here is that in fact, there simply has to be a Being above the laws of nature, without lacks, imperfection, multiplicity, and relativity. Otherwise nothing else could exist.

That's to say, without the existence of a Being above and beyond all that, there couldn't ever be deficient, imperfect, multiple, and relative things-- much like there couldn't ever be lessons taught without a teacher "above and beyond" the lessons him- or herself.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1, Ch 3

2010-01-17T07:49:00.000-05:00

Section 1, Chapter 3

Some individuals are said to enjoy “global vision”, in that they seem to see things from on high and take the whole into account. Others, though, including Ramchal, experience what we’d term “cosmic vision”. For while also seeing things from on high, these more exalted soul s also see them from beginning to end, and with a clear view of ultimate consequences.

And so we find Ramchal making certain “cosmic” statements like the following here: “If we were to dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions (including) every major deed He has brought about since He placed man on earth to (every deed that) He assured us through His holy prophets that He would (eventually) bring about, it becomes entirely clear (that)”; “what we can gather overall from all the great seminal events that G-d has fostered onto the world (is that)”; and “when we delve into everything done under the sun we see but one ongoing process (which is)”. So let’s see what we’d notice if we too could take all that into account since it will explain so many things to us about G-d.

Before we get to that, though, there’s something we’d need to understand clearly.

Even though we’d said in the last chapter that G-d wants us to grasp His being and that we’re capable of doing that, it’s vitally important to know that we cannot grasp G-d’s full and infinite being. That’s simply beyond us. What we can understand though (and will experience in the end) is a fragment of G-d’s being -- that aspect of Him that He displays in this world [1].

After all, as Ramchal reminds us, “can you fathom the mystery of G-d? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”(Job 11:7); and indeed, “who can utter the mighty acts of G-d or fully declare all His praise?” (Psalms 106:2) [2].

As such, while we’ll be discussing the overarching pattern of G-d’s ways in the world, the direction His actions are going in here, and His over- all goals -- which is all very buoyant and electric unto itself -- we nonetheless won’t be discussing G-d Himself [3]. In any event, it’s clear that our grasping even that relatively “small corner” of His being is what Ramchal and others assure us will bring us the great soul satisfaction we’d spoken of [4].

And so Ramchal now depicts what one would come to realize if he “were to dwell on the whole array of G-d’s actions”, if h e were to reflect upon “all the great seminal events”, or if he were to “delve into everything done under the sun” as cited above.

It would be the fact that G-d’s rule is supreme [5].

That’s to say that the one over-arching theme we’d see playing itself out in the long course of time from creation to the end of time is the fact that G-d is fully in charge of everything -- despite an almost endless array of paradoxes that seem to contradict that. We’ll expand upon this phenomenon shortly again and later on, as it will prove to be one of the major themes of Da’at Tevunot.

Notes:

[1] See R’ Friedlander’s note 13, pp. 9-11 as well as ¶’s 36 (beginning) and 40 (middle of paragraph beginnin g on p. 39 entitled “v’nashuv l’inyanneinu”).

Some argue that the idea that we can understand some aspect of G-d’s being though not all of it refers to the Kabbalistic theme of kav (though see our last note to the last chapter). See Klallim Rishonim 3.

[2] The truth be told, we0ll seem to touch upon many “hidden” and “secret” things in the course of this work. But let that serve as a lesson as to just what’s hidden and secret in the world and what’s not; what’s really beyond us and what only seems to be.

[3] In a manner of speaking, the one and only G-d can be said to have two “faces”, if you will. There’s His “private side” -- the way He is in His own element, where He’s free to be Himself and where no one other than He ever experiences Him. And then there’s His “public facade” -- the way He presents Himself outside of Himself, in the world.

The point is that while He’s not really Himself under the latter circumstances and is somewhat “restricted” there, nonetheless since we could potentially relate to Him under those circumstances rather than in His own element, and since His assuming His “public facade” best serves His ultimate purpose, He presents Himself that way to us.

[4] See 1:2:2. Though this is a decidedly esoteric point, Ramchal alludes elsewhere to stages of human attainment beyond the one spoken of here in Da’at Tevunot which will occur in the so-called eighth, ninth, and tenth “millennia” (i.e., after the Messianic Era) which will far surpass the dimensions we’ll be addressing here. But that discussion is far beyond the reach of this work. See R’ Shriki’s lengthy discussion of it in Rechev Yisroel pp. 137-164 which draws upon many of Ramchal’s works.

[5] This is termed G-d’s “Yichud”. See section 3 to our Prologue, note 4 to Ramchal’s Introduction, and note 2 to 1:1. See R’ Shriki’s note 11 for more about G-d’s Yichud as it is dis cussed in Da’at Tevunot and Klach Pitchei Chochma. Also see his Rechev Yisroel pp. 167-228, and his essay HaYichud in his commentary to Da’at Tevunot pp. 61- 66. See 1-4 of Klach Pitchei Chochma for a definition of the concept as well as a discussion of its dynamics.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 3 and 4

2010-01-17T07:45:00.000-05:00

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraphs 3 and 4

We've combined a couple of paragraphs this time, which we hadn't done so far, because they're short and related to each other.

Paragraph 3 speaks of G-d's existence being "imperative", and paragraph 4 speaks of His existence as being "independent" and not just imperative, but "*intrinsically* imperative".

We'd first need to explain terms, then try our hardest to understand what this all means.

By definition, an imperative is either a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required". Emotionally, though, it implies something else. We'll touch on both.

When I think of a "prerequisite" or something "absolutely required" I'm immediately brought back to school. There were always prerequisite classes or courses you *had* to take before you could either go further on, or graduate.

With that in mind we'll take the expression that G-d's existence is imperative to mean that He simply *has* to exist if anything else is to follow. In other words, nothing but nothing could ever exist without Him, period.

As Ramchal puts it at the end of this paragraph, "G-d simply couldn't *not* exist" because if He didn't exist, then nothing else could.

We said there's an emotional sense of the term "imperative", too. When I have an "imperative need" for something, I have an acute, aching, burning need for it. I'm in pain without it. So in that sense of the word, I and everything else experiences a deep-below-the-surface "imperative need" for G-d all the time. We simply couldn't exist, couldn't "go on" without Him.

As such, G-d's existence is *imperative*, He couldn't possibly *not* exist both in fact, and as far as we’re concerned.

Again, as paragraph 4 puts it, G-d's existence is "independent", and not just imperative (as we said before), but "*intrinsically* imperative".

G-d's existence is said to be "independent" simply because He depends on nothing or no one else. After all, *by definition* an all-mighty God would simply have to be independent, sovereign, and self-sufficient. Otherwise he wouldn't be all-mighty. And G-d Almighty certainly meets those criteria.

That's simple enough. The next one, though, is a little more turgid.

By saying that G-d is *intrinsically* imperative Ramchal is stating that G-d's imperativeness (i.e., the fact that His existence is absolutely required) isn't a "rule" that He has to follow.

His point is that G-d "wrote the rule" of imperativeness just as He wrote all other rules. And He could wipe it out if He wants to or not. After all, as we said, He's *independent* and above all rules.

That's to say that G-d's existence is imperative *only because He wants it to be*. He Himself "decided" He'd work that way.

The ancient Greeks believed their gods (and there's simply no comparison) were beholden to something greater than they-- the so-called "Fates". If something was fated to happen, there was nothing a Greek god could do to prevent it. G-d Almighty is beholden to nothing. His existence is *intrinsically* imperative, i.e., it's only imperative *because He wanted it to be*.

The following idea isn't mentioned here, but we'll end with it. Many people mistakenly believe that G-d is beholden to logic. As if logic were more powerful than He, just as the "Fates" were more powerful than the ancient Greek gods. But that's simply not true.

G-d is no more beholden to logic than He is to, say, gravity. So all attempts to "force" Him into a logical corner fail in the end. And all questions of whether He could create a force greater than Himself or not and the like are simply irrelevant to His utmost, absolute sovereignty.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1 - Ch 2

2010-01-10T01:20:00.000-05:00

Chapter 2

Now that we know that G-d wants us to perfect both ourselves and the universe in its entirety, we’ll need to unravel this next series of mysteries: What exactly is defective about us that needs to be rectified anyway? What are the consequences of our defects? Just what would we need to do to perfect ourselves? And what would be the consequences of our actually doing it?

Well, there are several traditional and some more ancillary sources that we could cull from to depict what perfection itself would be like, which we could then draw upon to understand just what’s imperfect and flawed about us now in the interim [1]. The resources include various Torah verses, quotes from our sages, and some conclusions we can arrive at logically.

As such, Ramchal informs us that at bottom perfection comes down to “cleaving onto G-d’s Presence” [2] meaning to say, drawing as closely and as completely to Him as one can; and to “grasping His Glory without impediments” in his words, which is to say, understanding all the implications of G-d’s Being (as we’ll illustrate later on).

Ramchal acknowledges that “we don’t really have the ability to understand just what this ‘cleaving’ and ‘grasping’ is” at this point in our development, “as long as we’re imperfect” (much the way a four year old couldn’t be expected to fathom being forty). But we’ve been granted allusions to it.

As such, we’re told that this phenomenon is depicted in the following verses: “Then you will delight in the L-rd, and I will have you ride on the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58:14), “The upright will dwell in Your presence” (Psalms 140:13), and “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalms 16:11). It’s spoken of in the Talmudic statement that “In the World to Come there is neither eating nor drinking, nor procreation of children or business transactions, no envy or hatred or rivalry; but the righteous sit enthroned, their crowns on their heads, and enjoy the luster of the Divine Splendor” (Berachot 17a). And we can understand it to some degree by virtue of the fact that given that the soul “is a portion of G-d Above”, that as a consequence it’s clear that all it wants to do is to “return to and cleave onto its Source and to grasp it”, since it’s “the nature of each artifact to yearn for its Artisan” and to “not rest until it achieves that” [3].

That’s to say that the perfection we’re capable of achieving is to be understood as a state in which we’d dwell and delight in G-d’s lustrous presence joyfully as we soar upward above all human concerns, don “crowns” (signs of nobility), and ultimately realize our metaphysical dream of grasping G-d and cleaving onto His being [4].

Nonetheless as long as we don’t cleave onto G-d’s presence and grasp His being, we’re yet imperfect, and the fact remains that we were created to achieve just that, and we’ve been charged by G-d to set out to do it.

Thus to answer the questions we raised at the top, what is defective about us that needs to be rectified is our separation from G-d; the consequences of that is our toxic sense of purposelessness; and the consequences of our actually perfecting ourselves would be the sort of unalloyed joy t hat comes upon the soul when it realizes its full potential [5]. But there are a couple of other things we’d need to understand now that are rather mystifying before we can go forward.

First off, it’s clear that G-d could have created us and the universe as utterly perfect to begin with, so why didn’t He? In fact we’d have expected Him to have fashioned everything that way, given His omnipotence.

The answer, we’re taught, lies in the fact that rather than create worlds and things in accordance with His own needs and abilities, G-d created them to fit our needs and abilities. As such, G-d could be said to have purposefully “held Himself back”, if you will; to have stifled His infinite abilities to create the universe and ourselves. (And it’s here where Ramchal alludes to how little of G-d’s being has to do with creation, which is such an astounding notion!)

And so, He didn’t create us perfect to begin with simply because He deemed it necessary for us to perfect ourselves (and the universe with us) by ourselves. And that was so that we’d be able to achieve His goal for us to be self-actualized perfection [6].

Another legitimate question we could then ask is this: Given that we’re indeed imperfect, what then can we draw on to perfect ourselves [7]? We’ll have to wait till we can answer that one, though.

So to sum up the last chapter and this one (and we’ll be summing up a lot as we go along, for good reasons), we learn that G-d calls upon us to perfect ourselves and the universe at large, and that we’re to be richly recompensed for doing that; that the reward in fact will be an experience of G-d Himself, which we sorely lack now; and that there’s something within us that allows for so bold and otherworldly a phenomenon on our parts.

Notes:

[1] We’re taught that G-d warned Moses, who was about to experience G-d’s Presence as no one ever had to then that despite that, “no man can see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). Yet isn’t it also said “And they saw the G-d of Israel” (Exodus 24:10, “G-d our L-rd has showed us His glory and greatness” (Deuteronomy 5:24), “and “my eyes have seen the King, the L-rd of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

The point is that while some have experienced one or more aspect of G-d presence (or a corrupted and imperfect appearance of it), nonetheless the point remains that no man can see G-d fully and ye t live. The implication is of course that one can “see” G-d in the World to Come to a significant degree, which will prove to be Ramchal’s argument later on.

[2] See Derech Hashem 1:2:3 and Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1 where Ramchal directly equates perfection with attaching oneself to G-d.

[3] The idea that all “parts” (i.e., elements) naturally long to return to their “source” is classical. It was used for example by the ancients to explain why fire flickers upward -- to return to the source of fire in the heavens, etc.

While the concept no longer rings true on a scientific level, the basic abstract notion behind it is still valid on a human level and helps to explain many things, including why children cling to their mothers, why individuals tend to stay close to their people, or to be drawn to others from their hometown or alma mater, why our minds often draw upon archetypical ideas and longings, why people often regress into childhood patterns when they grow old, and most significantly (as Ramchal indicates) why we would want to draw close to G-d.

The model is found in many Kabalistic sources, including the early twentieth century masterpiece Leshem Shevo v’Achlamah which states that “the goal of everything is to return to its Exalted Source” (Chelek HaBiurim 1, p. 83), and “a lower light always longs to rise upward and=2 0to attach itself up above, so as to garner more and more light and blessings from the Infinite Light on high” (Ibid. 2, p. 14).

[4] But as we’ll learn in the next chapter, we won’t be fully grasping G-d or cleaving onto His presence unto itself, but rather only a segment of it. It’s important to understand this distinction.

[5] Though Ramchal doesn’t address what would happen to the universe when we perfect ourselves and it (spoken of in the first section), the implication is that it too would be perfected and would reach its own potential of being the sort of fit and full receptacle of G-d’s presence alluded to by0Athe verse “Holy! Holy! Holy! … The whole world is full of His Glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).

[6] This refers to the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum. See Ramchal’s Klallim Rishonim 2 and Klallot Ha’ilan 1, and Klallei Sefer Milchamot Hashem 2. See Friedlander p. 8 iyyun 6 and the other references cited there; Goldblatt pp. 26, 473; Shriki p. 16, note 9.

[7] This won’t be fully explained until much later on (¶’s 70, 72, 158). See Goldblatt pp. 28, 473 where he addresses the role of the “kav” in this phenomen.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality - Ch 1 - Par 2

2010-01-10T01:11:00.002-05:00

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 2

There are a number of cogent points made in this week's study. The first is that only G-d can comprehend His *true Being*. We simply cannot.

Let's start off by explaining that there are two perspectives from which to approach G-d. G-d as He is Himself, "within His own Essential Being", utterly transcendent of everyone and everything. And G-d "facing outward", so to speak, immanent and approachable.

Let me quickly make myself clear. Make no mistake about it-- there's only *one* G-d, and He is who He is wherever He is, without variation. I'm referring to how *we experience Him to be*, and the perspective from which we perceive Him.

In any event, when G-d is alone in His own Essential Being, He is utterly, utterly unfathomable and out of our experience. It's as impossible to grasp Him when He's "there" and "then" (in a state that can at best be called "therelessness" and "thenlessness", since it's fully removed from and alien to space and time) as it is to fully and truly grasp what's on someone's mind at any one moment.

For were I to catch you deep in thought, I might *assume* you're thinking about this or that either because that's what you tend to think about, that's what I'd be thinking about, or that's what most people in your situation would be thinking about. But I really couldn't know. And were I to offer that you were thinking about one thing or another, I might be partially right-- but only partially so.

Because while you might indeed be thinking about eating, for example, as I’d claim, you might also be thinking about money, your umbrella, daisies, the color yellow, etc., etc. And though you could indeed be thinking about eating, you might nonetheless be thinking about eating a wholly different way than I'd ever imagine.

In any event, just as I can never know you from *within* in all your fullness, though I can know you from *without* to some extent-- I can likewise never know G-d from within, and only somewhat from without, though infinitely less so.

Ramchal goes on to say, though, that we do know *something* about Him as He is, which is that He's *utterly whole* and lacks for nothing. That is, that He's utterly self-contained and self-sufficient, utterly independent (and hence utterly and truly free, immortal, and all-powerful in ways we can't fathom, but that's a subject unto itself).

How do we know that? Both from ancient tradition and from personal, soul-based experience, Ramchal offers. And he cites a verse to illustrate that, which reads "Take great care... never to forget what you saw with your own eyes... and let your children and your grandchildren (etc.) know about the day you stood before G-d your L-rd at Horeb (i.e., Mount Sinai)" (Deuteronomy 4:9-10).

In other words, as our sages put it, each one of us was at Mount Sinai on a soul level when G-d appeared in His utter wholeness there; and it thus behooves us to perpetuate that "racial memory" in the here and now by passing it on through the tradition.

Interestingly enough, though, Ramchal hears the objections of the sceptics out there, and offers that, in point of fact, G-d's utter wholeness can also be verified logically, demonstrated in nature, and be derived from physics and astronomy (which many have done, including Maimonides in his "Guide for the Perplexed", and Bachya Ibn Pakudah in his "The Duties of the Heart"). And the suggestion is that the curious would do well to study their works, or arrive at their own proofs.

But he declares that we won't be depending on such proofs in "The Way of G-d"; but rather on the principles laid down by the tradition attesting to G-d’s wholeness, which he'll thus be presenting in the course of this work.

There are two things to be said about that. First, that Ramchal’s point seems to be that logical, experimental insight invariably comes upon a brick wall when it tries to fathom the unfathomable. But at least it *somewhat* satisfies the testy soul who will not give in.

And second, that while we might not be able to recall the "racial memory" of experiencing G-d up close at Mount Sinai for ourselves, studying the traditions about it and sensing it deep in the heart that way is second best.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1

2010-01-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1

1. It’s hard coming upon the secrets of the universe. You have to unpack one bag after another; lay their contents next to each other, then compare and contrast them all until the whole picture comes through. And that’s exactly what we’re cautioned about here, since we’re going to be exposed to some of life’s deepe st mysteries in the course of this book, as Ramchal indicates. So we’ll all need to have patience as we follow “the bouncing ball” as it goes from point to point. Let this serve as a word of warning.

Let’s start off with what we hope to learn over-all in Da’at Tevunot and go on from there. As Reason puts it, we hope to uncover man’s makeup, what’s incumbent upon him in this world, and the meaning of life. We’ll obviously be touching upon some core human -- and several specifically Jewish -- issues, so we’ll need to proceed step by step.

2. As Reason puts it, the primary principle upon which the entire edifice stands” -- bottom line -- is the fact that G-d wants us to perfect ourselves, and to perfect all of creation along with us [1]. Understand of course that we’re referring to perfecting ourselves spiritually -- that is, achieving the greatest and most exalted degree of humanity possible and elevating the world along with us, while drawing both ourselves and all of creation close to G-d in the process. From the first let it be said that this is a daunting and stunning thought that should both humble and bolster us -- humble us because it lays an enormous responsibility on our shoulders, and it should bolster us because it indicates that G-d apparently knows we’re capable of realizing it. But there’s another element to our having to perfect ourselves (rather than be perfected externally).

For by doing it on our own we’ll be rewarded for our efforts20(which will foster a whole other level of perfection that we couldn’t come to if we didn’t do it on our own), and we’ll have earned perfection rather than enjoyed it as a gift outright (which would sully the effect, as we’ll soon see).

But why would G-d have wanted that to be so? asks the Soul. In order to know that, we’re told, we’d first have to learn why G-d wanted to create the universe in the first place, and so we now will.

3. As best as we can determine -- because we’re neither as wise or as knowledgeable as we like to think we are, nor are we as privy to G-d’s plans as we’d like to be -- it comes to this [2].

G-d is characterized as “The Benevolent Being” par excellence. And given that it’s simply the way of one such as He to do good things [3], G-d thus set out to create entities to do good for -- all of us [4].

But in order for His goodness to be as beneficial as it could be, He needed to contend with one very human foible: the fact that we seem to need to do things on our own rather than accept handouts, given that “one who eats what’s not his own is ashamed to look (his benefactor) in the face” (Jerusalem Talmud, Orlah 1:3). That means to say that we find it hard to just take things [5]. (This is the element within us that what would have sullied the effect of our being perfected externally we cited above.)

His point is that if G-d didn’t make allowances for that, we’d be held back from achieving perfection, and His ultimate plan would thus have been thwarted; so He did indeed allow for it.

[1] As Ramchal put it elsewhere, “If we master ourselves, cleave onto our Creator, and make use of the world's things to help us in our Divine service, both we and the world with us will be elevated” (Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1).

In fact, Ramchal offers this argument over and over again in his works. See for example Derech Hashem 1:4:6-7, Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at 18, Adir Bamarom p. 37, his introduction to Ma’amar Havikuach, Sefer Kitzur Hakavanot p. 1, etc.

[2] We simply cannot fathom G-d Himself, nor can we grasp His thoughts or intentions. So when we say that we’re about to explain why G-d wanted to create the world, what we mean to say is that we’ll explain what we can grasp about G-d wants, and what has been revealed to us through prophecy and Divine inspiration (see Friedlander p. 4 iyyun 2).

[3]As the above note points out, we’re not speaking of G-d Himself when we indicate that it’s “simply the way< SPAN style="FONT- FAMILY: 'Cambria','serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi- theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">” of G-d to do this or that, as if He were compelled to do anything. Again we’re referring to our understanding of how He took it upon Himself to act within creation (Friedlander ibid., as well as p. 49 iyyun 18, and p. 51, iyyun 19; also see Shriki p.12, note 6*).

[4] As Ramchal said, “Man was created to delight in G-d and enjoy the radiance of His Divine presence” (Messilat Yesharim Ch. 1); also see Derech Hashem 1:2.

But Ramchal elsewhere pointed to three reasons for the world having been created (Iggrot Pitchei Chochma v’Da’at ), and while one of them is indeed so that G-d could bestow favors upon others, but another is to reveal His Yichud, as we indicated in note 4 to Ramchal’s Introduction. So, see R’ Shriki’s discussion of the discrepancy on pp.11-12, note 6 to his edition.

[5]As R’ Friedlander points out (p. 5 iyyun 4), this fundamental axiom cited in the Jerusalem Talmud and=2 0is quoted by Tosephot in Kiddushin 36b, “Kawl Mitzvah”. It’s referred to in R’ Yoseph Karo’s Maggid Maisharim (Breishit, “Ohr Layom Shabbat 14 Tevet”); also see HaRav m’Fano’s Yonat Elim (beginning) and Orchot Tzaddikim’s Sha’ar HaBusha.

Also see R’ Shriki’s note 7* on pp. 13-14 where he raises the question as to why G-d couldn’t just undo this anomaly.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality

2010-01-03T08:13:00.000-05:00

Derech Hashem

Chapter 1 - The Creator

Paragraph 1

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto offers that there are a certain number of things about G-d Almighty each one of us needs to both *know* and *believe*.

He apparently combines the two, because Rambam (Maimonides) said in one context that we're to *know* certain fundamentals of the faith, and in another he said we're to *believe* them. Ramchal apparently contends we'd need to do both at the same time.

So much for the more academic answer to the question of why both are listed. We'd like to approach it differently now, and ask a couple of questions based on the combination. First, what's the difference between believing and knowing? And why, for our purposes, did Ramchal combine them?

The best way I know to define the difference between knowing and believing is to imagine being without either. It seems to me that not believing is more personally and existentially threatening, and more darkly dire than not knowing. Because I'm convinced that if I don't know something, I can always learn it; while if I don't believe it, I'm left somehow "stranded". And in fact, many of our Sages have taught that belief is higher than knowledge.

But not knowing threatens, also. Knowing for example why something bad happened to me seems to dampen the pain and lend solace. While not knowing seems to gnaw at my being and oppress me.

Apparently Ramchal's point is that we're to somehow or another so internalize the truth of G-d's existence, so convince ourselves of His living presence that both the dark, dread lack of faith in Him, and the bleak, dulling lack of knowledge of G-d's ways in the world simply disappear.

But how do we ever do *that*?

This may help. Notice how Ramchal titled this work "The *Way* of G-d" in the singular, rather than the *ways*, as we put it a couple of paragraphs back when we spoke of "G-d's ways in the world"?

I believe Ramchal put it in the singular because a major point of his throughout his writings is that all-in-all G-d has one broad way or *agenda* if you will; with many, many narrow paths or side-agendas so to speak along the way, that all lead to the realization of the main one.

Eventually grasping that-- learning that, and fully believing it heart and soul-- will have us both *know* and *believe*. And in fact a great part of the gift of this book will be underscoring the fact of G-d's ultimate agenda in light of His many side-agendas.

That having been said, what are we to believe and know after all? (There'll prove to be many things, and you and I will have to be patient, in light of the fact that "The Way of G-d" will prove to work in stages).

The first thing is that G-d's the *first being*; and that He existed *before* anything or anyone else, and will continue to exist *after* everything and everyone is gone.

But that's curious. If He's the *first being*, of course He existed *before* anything or anyone else. What's Ramchal's point? What's the difference? (We'll get to G-d's continuing to exist *after* everything else soon.)

Perhaps we can explain G-d's being called the *first being* this way.

Were we to somehow or another appear out of nowhere and come upon reality for the first time, the first being we'd *notice*-- the most obvious and preeminent Being-- would be G-d. Simply because we hadn't yet had a chance to take His presence for granted, and hadn't yet been waylaid by all the other things that have us overlook Him.

G-d will eventually prove to have existed *before* everything else, too. But knowing that would come later, after we'd have withstood the shock and stun of catching sight of His presence in the first place.

Again, we're also told that He will continue to exist *after* everything and everyone is gone. Why would we need to know that, too?

This seems to be the best way to illustrate and explain G-d's proceeding and succeeding everything and everyone. Imagine a grand concert full of roil and thunder, high pitches, low pitches, gravitas and piccolo. And imagine it beginning with a single note which somehow or another threads its way throughout the concert, and appears again at the concert's end.

Wouldn't that single note prove to have *defined* the concert, in retrospect, and to have given it it's heft?

That's exactly Ramchal's point. G-d's ineffable presence defines reality and gives it it's heft. And that by being the first and last, He is the better part of the whole.

His final point here is that G-d-- and G-d alone-- both *created* and *maintains* everything.

Simply put, that comes to deny the power of anything or anyone else to truly and utterly *create* out of the blue (despite our own personal fantasies and vainglory). And it comes to underscore the fact that G-d not only created us, he also *maintains* our beings moment by moment.

Returning to our musical analogy, G-d not only pressed His lips (if you will) to the mouth of our beings to start "playing" us (i.e., to animate us), He continues to, throughout the concert.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality

2009-12-27T00:54:00.000-05:00

Derech Hashem

Ramchal's Introduction

Ramchal's introduction to “The Way of G-d” isn’t really what we’d expect it to be. It isn’t for example a rationale for studying G-d’s way in the first place, or a justification for the idea that we humans can explain it. It obviously assumes that, as believers, we accept the idea that has been so fundamental to the Jewish Faith for millennia that G-d revealed these things through the Tradition, and that despite the complexity of it all, they can be explained.

So what this introduction does from the very beginning, and without apology, is to simply lay out G-d’s methods of interacting with the universe, and in an orderly and rational way. And more.

Ramchal’s first point is that it's far, far better knowing things in a structured and orderly manner than in a haphazard one. He compares haphazard knowledge to a wild, chaotic forest, and structured knowledge to an orderly, symmetric garden. He offers that we become befuddled when we confront things that are set out in a hodgepodge fashion, and that we can’t determine a correlation between the whole and its parts, or between the parts themselves. Our mind becomes taxed, he says, and we shut down. For we find ourselves lost in a great forest of data that we have to sift through exhaustingly. And as a consequence the very thing that excited us so much from the start -- the possibility of understanding something clearly -- proves to be our nemesis. The opposite is true, though, when we come upon data that’s laid out in order and by category: we're delighted and pleased.

Now, on the surface Ramchal seems to be offering a reasonable-enough insight that matches our experience and goes far to explain mental-stress. But we quickly become excited when we realize that he's suggesting that there needs to be order and symmetry when it comes to books that speak about G-d in the universe; so when he sets out to do that in “The Way of G- d” our interest is piqued. And in fact ”The Way of G-d” is perfect in its layout, as well as very soul-satisfying and alluring.

Yet it's clear that there’s a deeper, more subtle message being conveyed here, too. Ramchal seems to be addressing the inner life. He’s apparently contrasting a perplexed, torn, tortured G-dless soul who can’t see the connection between things, and the person of pure, clear faith and religious erudition who can.

For the tortured soul finds himself in the midst of a wild, chaotic forest of fear day after day. He never knows what he'll come upon from moment to moment, and can’t be sure he’ll know what to make of it once he comes upon it.

The only connection he sees between things is a chronological one. He stumbles about with mind shut down, and can fathom neither rhyme nor reason. The more things he comes upon, the greater his confusion. It gets to the point where life and its travails threaten rather than bolster his confidence.

Not so the person of full faith and knowledge, who walks about a veritable Garden of Eden laid out in full splendor. Each and every thing he meets confirms his faith in an orderly way and meaningfully, and reveals the shrewdness and wisdom of the Great Planner.

Ramchal's intention seems then to be to provide us with the great master plan laid out in order, and to thus allow us the great bliss and airy-ease that true and knowledgeable believers enjoy.

Then Ramchal seems to turn a corner and begins advising us how to analyze things.

His first suggestion is that we'd do best to always consider things in relation to the whole -- to look at "the big picture". Taking his own advice, Ramchal then steps back a nearly infinite distance and speaks of all of existence -- "(of) both the tangible and the abstract, i.e., (about) everything you would possibly imagine".

He determines from that perspective that absolutely everything is different from everything else, both in kind and in quality; and that everything has rules unique to itself. Hence the only way to understand anything and how it functions would be to see what sets it apart from everything else.

He then goes on to offer (quite succinctly and precisely) that there are four general categories under which things fall: they're either a whole entity or part of one, a general instance of this or that or a particular instance, a cause of something else or an effect of some cause, and either an essence (i.e., a thing itself) or a quality (something about that thing).

He advises us to keep in mind that (1) if something is a part of something else, that we'd do well to determine the whole it's a part of, in order to see it in “the big picture”. If (2) it's a cause of something, then we'd have to determine its effects, or determine its cause if it's an effect. If (3) it's a quality, then we should surmise the essence associated with it, and consider if the quality preceded the essence, came about at the same time, or if it came about after it; and whether the quality is intrinsic to the essence or happened by accident, and whether it’s only a potential quality, or an actual one. Then we'd do well to determine (4) whether the thing we're analyzing is absolute or limited; and if it's limited, then we'd then have to determine its limits. Since doing all that helps to provide us with a complete picture.

His final point is that we'll never determine the truth about anything unless we unearth its context and take it from there. And the astute reader notices that "The Way of G-d" is constructed just that way (though it would take a whole other book to point that out, step by step.)

On a deeper level though we also find that Ramchal has allotted us another profound lesson in self-knowledge along the way.

For if we're ever to determine who we are and to thus better ourselves, we too would have to look at "the big picture" and see ourselves in context. For while we're each unique with rules of our own, we nonetheless fit into a whole and would do well to see our own place in it.

The whole we're a part of is the universe in its entirety. In certain instances we cause things to happen, and in other instances we're affected by others' initiatives. Sometimes we're essential to a situation, and other times happenstantial and quite secondary. And on and on.

The point seems to be that knowing ourselves hangs on knowing our context and our relation to others. But that's only one level of looking at what our author is alluding to so astutely. At bottom he also seems to be saying that each one of us is a particular part of G-d directly affected by Him and beholden to Him. And that He alone is the essence.

And indeed, that's what 'The Way of G-d" is all about. It's a methodical manual for delving into our beings and for finding G-d's place in it and in the entire universe.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1

2009-12-27T00:50:00.000-05:00

Ramchal’s Introduction

1. Certain things are clear to us from the first while others are simply not. We may believe in them, espouse them, and live our lives according to them, but we still and all might not truly “get” them. And that’s certainly true for things about our own religion. For while there are specific matters of the faith that we’re to hold by if we’re to be true to our Torah’s ideals -- known as “The Thirteen Principles of the Faith” ¹ -- some of them are straightforward enough while others simply aren’t. So it would clearly do us well to understand the ones that we can’t quite grasp.

And so it seems that while the Soul who will be raising questions of Reason in Da’at Tevunot certainly believed in all thirteen of the principles, nonetheless, as he put it, some of them “I accept as true but don’t actually understand”. We’ll find that the bulk of this work will set out to solve his dilemma.

2. As the Soul put it, he understands the fact of G-d’s existence as well as His oneness, eternality, non-physical makeup; the idea that everything that exists derived out of sheer nothingness (known as creation ex nihilo) ² ; the reality of prophecy and the uniqueness of Moses’ prophecy; and the ideas that the Torah we now have is from G-d Himself, eternal, and is the very one revealed to us at Mount Sinai.

For, while these are actually quite knotty and arcane, they’re somehow easier to grasp than the others. Since while these touch upon very abstract notions like how to define G-d, upon the makeup of the Torah and the nature of prophecy, and more, the other ones that he does want to dwell on go deeper-down into our beings. They include Divine providence, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead. And the Soul cites the following verse as his source for what he wants to dwell on: “Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that G- d is the L-rd, in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). For it underscores the fact that that G-d, and “none other”, is the L-rd of both “heaven above” and “the earth beneath”, which is to say that G-d reigns supreme and single-handedly everywhere and on every level ³.And it asks of us to “know” that and to “consider it in your heart”, which means to say, to internalize it.

3. Why would anyone be especially confused about these four? It seems because unlike the other principles cited, these touch upon our life- experiences, our humanity, our relation to G-d, and upon our very raison d’être. As, “Divine providence” speaks to how we and G-d interact with each other, “reward and punishment” addresses the things that G-d values and what He disparages, “the coming of the Messiah” contends with the direction the world is heading in, and the idea of “the resurrection of the dead” helps define ultimate reality ⁴. We’d all need to have those things fleshed out for us, for the truth of the matter is that life seems so impetuous, haphazard, disordered, and aimless, that we often don’t quite catch sight of G-d’s providence or of His over-arching aim for the universe. After all, things oftentimes seem to just befall us, to land upon our roofs at night at random and to be beyond us. The outer cosmos seems to pirouette prettily in the vast distance, but -- the truth be known -- for no apparent reason. As things don’t seem to be leading anywhere, and G-d’s attention seems to be otherwise riveted. There’s also the fact that many good souls often seem to know no peace, while the bad seem to do quite well, which has always puzzled many ⁵.So allow us now to explore these principles of the faith -- and our own souls in the process⁶.

¹See Maimonides’ comments to the first Mishna in the tenth chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin.

²Maimonides doesn’t actually include creation ex nihilo among the fundamentals of the faith (suggesting instead the idea that only G-d is to be worshipped and not the angels, which Ramchal might have considered self-evident in light of the discussion of G-d’s absolute sovereignty). Nonetheless, see Rabbi Yoseph Kapach’s note 34 to his Hebrew translation of the original Arabic rendition of the principles, where he cites this statement as coming from a note written by Maimonides himself along the margins later on in life. Ramchal might also have included it on the strength of what Maimonides himself said about the essential nature of belief in creation ex nihilo in The Guide for the Perplexed 2:13-35.

³Also see Exodus 8:6 (“… in order that you know that there is none like the L-rd, our G-d”), 8:18 (“… in order that you know that I am the L-rd in the midst of the earth”), and 9:14 (“… in order that you know that there is none like Me in the entire earth”).

⁴Though Ramchal did in fact explicate Divine providence, reward and punishment, the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead at length in Da’at Tevunot, the truth of the matter is that they are actually not his main focus. The key and upending revelation of G-d’s overarching Sovereignty (His “Yichud”) and the ramifications of all that will prove to be his major themes (see Shriki, p. 5), as it explains all the rest.

⁵As Jeremiah the prophet put it, “Why has the way of the wicked prospered, (and why do) all who deal with treachery have peace?” (Jeremiah 12:1). See Berachot 7a for a seminal discussion of the topic.

⁶As we’d indicated in our Prologue, Da’at Tevunot is based upon a number of difficult Kabbalistic premises. While we won’t expand upon them much here, we will allude to them so that more advanced readers could explore them. As such, we’re told that the four principles of the faith that we’ll be expanding on here -- Divine providence, reward and punishment, the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead -- allude to the four Partzufim of the world of Atzilut (see Goldblatt pp. 18- 19, 473), which will be expanded upon later on in the book.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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"The Way of G-d" - PART 1 - The Fundamental Principles of Reality

2009-12-20T14:52:00.004-05:00

Derech Hashem

Introduction to The Class

It is with great awe and trepidation that we begin our presentation of "The Way of G-d". After all, what this work is, is a laying out cold and clear, layer by layer, the very fundamental principles of the universe, and the very things expected of us all as a consequence of them. But let's begin nonetheless.

The truth is, we really won't be beginning at the very top of the work-- with Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's introduction. Because it's a work unto itself, and it serves as an introduction to the science of logic. With G-d's help we'll present it at a later time, as a treat. Simply because we'd like to jump into the waters of "The Ways of G-d" right off.

First a rule or two. We'll be referring to our author as "Ramchal", which is an acronym for his full name, RAbbi Moshe CHAim Luzzatto. And we'll be paraphrasing the work rather than translating it, both because my teacher, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (of blessed memory), already did such a masterful job of it; and also to save space. The truth be known, I'll be using different terms than the ones Rabbi Kaplan used, but the astute reader will have no trouble following along.

"The Way of G-d" is divided into four main sections:

1. The Fundamental Principles of Reality

2. Divine Providence

3. The Soul, Inspiration, Prophecy, and the Supernatural

4. Divine Service.

It's not hard to notice that we're going to be touching upon some very heady, very deep, very profound ideas in the course of our analyses. But let's go even further, and break these main sections down into their sub-headings.

"The Fundamental Principles of Reality" encompasses:

A. The Creator

B. The purpose of creation

C. Mankind

D. Human Responsibility

E. The spiritual realm

"Divine Providence" encompasses:

A. Divine Providence in general

B. Mankind in this world

C. Personal providence

D. Israel and the other nations

E. How Divine Providence works

F. The sequel of Divine Providence

G. The influence of the stars

H. The details of Divine Providence

"The Soul, Inspiration, Prophecy, and the Supernatural" encompasses:

A. The soul and its influence

B. Theurgy (i.e., the art of affecting change in the universe by means of Divine names and occultism)

C. Inspiration and prophecy

D. The prophetic experience

E. Moses as a prophet

And "Divine Service" encompasses:

A.Serving G-d in general

B. Torah study

C. The love and fear of G-d

D. Sh'ma Yisroel and its blessings

E. Prayer

F. The sequence of the day

G. Intermittent observances

H. Seasonal mitzvot

I. Incidental Observances and blessings

Obviously, then, you and I have our work cut out for us. And we're in for a good time!

We've thus offered quite a mouthful, and we're ready to end for now. But first notice our sequence: we go from *G-d's Being* and what that implies ("The Fundamental Principles of Reality"), to *the way G-d interacts with us* in the world ("Divine Providence"), to the mechanisms within us and the universe that *allow us to interact with Him* (both "The Soul, Inspiration, Prophecy, and the Supernatural" and "Divine Service").

May G-d grant us all the wherewithal to grasp what we'll be taking in, and to serve Him better as a consequence.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart - Section 1

2009-12-20T02:09:00.005-05:00

Prologue

1. I dare say that there’s nothing we seriously misconstrue as much as we do G-d. We’re either too naïve about Him (i.e., picturing Him sitting in Heaven with a long white beard on a throne and making quick ad hoc decisions about humankind and the cosmos), or we’re too sophisticated about Him (i.e., referring to Him esoterically and essentially meaninglessly as “The first cause”, “The greatest conceivable being existent” and the like). And we seriously -- tragically -- misunderstand His expectations of us. To my mind, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s Da’at Tevunot helps explain Him and His intentions to us as clearly as anyone could hope for.

For while there are quite a number of our holy books that I personally go to again and again when I need succor and insight, and which I draw upon when somehow feeling cornered in my being, the one I go to most often is Da’at Tevunot. What follows is something of a preamble to this seminal works of Jewish Thought based on my years of studying it again and again. (See our original introduction to Da’at Tevunot here.)

2. Anyone who has ever ventured into the writings of the master Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572, who is known as “the Ari”), can’t help but be struck by his inscrutable terminology and imagery.

The reader finds him or herself strolling about somehow in a universe (five universes in fact!) swollen with legions of whirling and still, descending and ascending, exploding and imploding bold and invisible things and non-things termed “worlds”, “spheres”, “faces”, “emanations”, “vessels”, “lights”, and “letters”. He’s also thrust in the middle of something that could only be termed the melding and severing of parts with the whole, and into instances of infinity and near infinity; and he’s faced with unexpected depictions of G-d Almighty’s will and much more 1. Could anyone not help but wonder what’s going on in all that?

Some of the Ari’s references have entered into everyday working Judaic vocabulary, but much of it eludes even the greatest Jewish scholars. In fact many who do use the terms on a more or less sophisticated level don’t really understand the underpinnings of the system well enough to saunter about it comfortably and methodically. In fact, so many works that go about elucidating the Ari’s universe don’t actually explain it so much as allow the various parts to all fit neatly and precisely within the system itself, without offering the big picture. Some great souls did indeed grasp the whole, though. They understood and were able to express what the Ari was talking about in plain-enough terms. For as the great “Gaon of Vilna” (Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Shlomo Zalman, 1720– 1797) and his disciples understood, the Ari’s imagery is utterly allegorical and was meant to depict the largely inexplicable through bold metaphor and imagery² Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746, known as “Ramchal”) also understood that. As he put it at one point, “The science of Kabbalah is only (meant) to (have one) understand how the Supreme Will governs, and (to explain) why G-d created all the various beings (found here), what He expects of them, what will come about at the end of the universal cycle, and how these worldly phenomena are to be explained” (Klach Pitchei Chochma 30).

So, Ramchal set out to articulate the Ari’s various points one by one in several of his works, but most especially, vividly, and successfully in Da’at Tevunot, the book that forms the basis of this work ³For rather than explain all the minutia of the Ari’s imagery there, what he set out to explain was G-d’s interactions with humankind while drawing on Ari’s revelations in lieu of his terminology.

3. Ramchal fashioned Da’at Tevunot in the form of an exchange between a Soul and Reason, and had the Soul ask Reason to explain some of the most important themes in Jewish Thought, known as “The Thirteen Fundamentals of the (Jewish) Faith” as elucidated by Rabbi Moshe Maimonides (1135-1204) ⁴.

But rather than ask for an explanation of all thirteen of them, the Soul only wanted clarification of a few of the more pressing ones that touch on our relationship to G-d, as we’ll see.

The truth of the matter is that while Ramchal did indeed explain these themes, he actually used them to explain some of the greatest and most vital themes of all: how we might know G-d’s ways and the ways He administers the cosmos, how to draw close to Him, why we were created, and how we might perfect ourselves. For, we’re instructed to “know the G-d of your father, and (to) serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind” (1Chronicles 28:9), and Ramchal set out to facilitate that with this work.

But that actually ties in with what we cited above as well. All of the above is discussed in the Ari’s writings (as well as in the works of other great Jewish thinkers and kabbalists), but while the Ari explained all of that in his own way, Ramchal thought it necessary to explain it in ways the rest of us could more easily understand.

In point of fact the single greatest theme that Ramchal set out to explain here was G-d’s utter and all-encompassing Sovereignty (his Yichud in Hebrew), as we’ll soon see.

For we were taught that, "I am the L-rd and there is no other; besides Me there is no G-d … there is no one besides Me. I am the L-rd and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5-7). Ramchal’s point will be that we can hasten the revelation of G-d’s Yichud if we choose to, and that in fact it would behoove us to do just that as believing Jews.

4. A note about the makeup of this work is called for, though. The truth of the matter is that the dialogue form that Ramchal used in Da’at Tevunot is no longer popular or easy to read. It’s too cumbersome and artificial for our tastes, since the questioner (the Soul) seems to act as a mere catalyst for the responder’s (Reason’s) answers and the statements seem too turgid and belabored.

So we’ve taken the liberty of laying out Ramchal’s statements in our own words in the chapters to follow; and we’ve have taken some excursions along the way that either touch upon things that are only mentioned in Da’at Tevunot cursorily which Ramchal went into in more detail elsewhere, or in order to offer our own insights. As such, this work serves as an adaptation of Da’at Tevunot.

1 Understand of course that the Ari didn’t originate the terms he used, as his revelations came after many centuries of other Kabbalists’ writings. The point is that he has come to be taken as the Kabbalist par excellence, and the one upon whose authority many others have based their own kabbalistic writings.

2 See Rabbi Chaim of Volzhin’s Nephesh HaChaim 3:7; see a letter written by Rabbi Avraham Simcha of Stislav cited in Da’at Tevunot - Sefer HaKlallim p. 236 (along with a discussion of Rabbi Chaim Vitale’s awareness of the issue); also see Rabbi Chaim Friedlander’s Iyyunim (#61) on p. 214 of his edition of Da’at Tevunot for a discussion of the parabolic nature of prophetic visions in general.

3 Da’at Tevunot was first printed in Warsaw, Poland in 1889 by the well known scholar and bibliophile, Rabbi Samuel Luria.

4 See Maimonides’ comments to the Mishna, Sanhedrin 10. We’ll expand upon this in Ramchal’s Introduction to follow.

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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